members of the N.U.E.T., who know members of Parliament, and through whom they would be able to communicate with them. Mr. Day thought the secretary should endeavour to set as many hands to work as possible, and secure the co-operation of those in the provinces. He hoped the secretary's idea would be worked out, as it would save a great deal of his time and further the object he had in view. Mr. Day moved "That the Ampthill Association be, and it is hereby formally affiliated to the N.U.E.T." This was seconded by Mr. Moore, and carried unanimously. The question of the remuneration of the clerk for reporting the proceedings of the Executive arose from the consideration of the secretary's report, and it was agreed, on the motion of Messrs. Day and Hamilton, that the matter should be referred to the Finance and General Purposes Committee,

The secretary presented the following correspondence: 1. G. A. Dennis (Whickham) Forwarding resolution respecting recent Regulations. 2. W. Bottomley (Daventry)Forwarding resolution supporting alterations of Regulations suggested by the Parliamentary Committee. 3. T. Clements (Forest of Dean)-Enclosing resolution respecting registration. 4. Letters from Ampthill and Rochford respecting new associations and asking for affiliation. 5. A, Redgrave, Esq. Chief Inspector of Factories-Three letters respecting New Factory Bill. 6. Secretary of Science and Art Department-In reply to inquiry respecting drawing examinations. 7. Secretary of Education Department-Promising to receive a deputation on the subject of " Regulations," on Saturday, July 7th, at 1 p.m. 8. Serjeant R. Spinks, M.P.-In reply to circular on pensions. 9. G. J. Rankilor (Birmingham)-Suggesting the first Saturday in August or September as the date for the meeting of Committee on Teachers' Certificates. 10. J. Wedmore (Bristol)-Asking for some authority for allowing pupil-teachers who have not completed their second year to mark registers. 11. J. Hobby (Stourbridge)-Respecting affiliation of their association. 12. A. P. O. Liddell, Esq.-In reference to the Factory Acts Amendment Bill.

Nos. 1, 2, and 3 were referred to the Parliamentary and Law Committee. No. 4 had been already dealt with. The affiliation of S. E. Essex Association was postponed, as a copy of the rules had not been received. With respect to No. 5, the secretary stated that the letters merely referred to the time of an interview. He also said that this interview had taken place on the previous Thursday, when he had obtained a great deal of information on the subject. It was decided that letter No. 6 should be read when the subject of teaching drawing was under discussion. In reference to No. 9 it was resolved, on the motion of Messrs. Hamilton and Day, "That the meeting of the Special Committee on Teachers' Certificates be held on the first Saturday in October." In No. 12 it was stated that the Home Secretary will be happy to receive such deputation as proposed on some day in the course of next week, if thought necessary; but appears to him that the views which it is desired to urge upon him are very clearly and sufficiently stated in the memorial as it is. The Executive, after considering the letter and the report of the secretary as to his interviews with Mr. Redgrave, came to the conclusion that, under the circumstances, it would not be necessary for a deputation to wait upon the Home Secretary.

Mr. Sneath (in the absence of Mr. Collins) brought up the following report of the Parliamentary and Law Committee:

"At a meeting of the committee held on July 2nd, 1877, two cases of a legal nature were considered by the committee. In the first of these a claim is made by the teacher for the payment of nearly £70, alleged to be due as salary and share of grant. The commitee authorised the secretary to send the case to the solicitor for preliminary advice, on receipt. of the ordinary inquiry fee. In the second case a teacher was summoned for punishing a child. The action taken by the secretary was approved, and he was instructed to send further advice on the matter. The secretary stated that since the last report he had written letters of advice in eight cases of difficulty.

"The committee next considered the various references from the Executive, viz., (1) Mr. Combe's motion; (2) Payment by Results; (3) Nos. 92, 94, 95, 96, 100, and for of the Notices of Motions on the Agenda of the last Annual Conference. They decided to postpone the consideration of 1 and 2 until after the Recess, and to adjourn the Finsbury notice (No. 92) until a letter had been received from that association stating the grounds on which the motion was made, and naming the particular points which it was proposed should be dealt with by the proposed commission.

"The various letters referred to the committee at the last two meetings of the Executive were also considered. As the subjects mentioned in them have all been recently discussed by the Executive, and action thereon already taken, the committee recommend that replies be forwarded to the various associations to this effect.

"(Signed)

After the reception of the report

"GEORGE COLLINS, Chairman.
"THOMAS EDMUND HELLER, Secretary."

was agreed, on the motion of Mr. Sneath, "That letters be addressed to the Finsbury and other associations, in accordance with the recommendation of the report.

Mr. Grove (treasurer) brought up the following statement of receipts and expenditure. for the month ending May 21st, 1877 :—

£594 17 6

Printing and Stationery..

Agreement Stamps, Carriage of

Balance-General Fund

Reserve Fund

3 4 2 II

2 3

12 0

........

O 10 7 226 9 10 335 14 I

It was resolved, on the motion of Mr. Grove, "That the statement be now received and adopted."

Mr. Grove requested that those members of the Executive who had not sent in their accounts for travelling expenses should do so at once, in order that the cheque might be drawn. Mr. Day suggested that it would be well to send a note to each member asking for the amount of his travelling expenses, and that in future a printed form be drawn up and used for that purpose.

Mr. Grove having raised the question as to what travelling expenses were to be included under the resolution of Conference,

Mr. Day moved "That the treasurer be authorised to include in last year's travelling expenses the expenses to the London Conference." This was seconded by Mr. Groves, and carried.

As the deputation to the Education Department on the subject of the "Regulations" was due at I p.m., it was decided to postpone the consideration of the adjourned conference business; but the secretary reported the correspondence in connection with the motion of the Lambeth Association relating to the drawing examination: "That the payment for every child who only gives satisfactory evidence of having been taught drawing be one shilling for each exercise of the first grade in which the child gives this satisfaction," consideration of the notice of motion had been postponed from the meeting of June 22nd, in order that a letter on the subject might be addressed to the Science and Art Department. The following is a copy of the letter and of the reply :

NATIONAL UNION OF ELEMENTARY TEACHERS.

7, Adam Street, Adelphi, W. C., June 26th, 1877.

The

To the Secretary of the Science and Art Department, South Kensington, S. W. Sir,-At the late Conference of the Union the following "Notice of motion" was referred for consideration to the Executive: "That the payment for every child who only gives 'satisfactory evidence' of having been taught drawing be one shilling for each exercise of the first grade in which the child gives this satisfaction." At their meeting, on Friday last, the subject was under discussion, and it was stated by several teachers that the Department already acted on the principle contained in the resolution. In proof of this it was said that the number who had given "satisfactory evidence of having been taught drawing," added to the "passes," was in excess of the number of candidates. I am instructed to inquire whether this supposition is correct, and whether the Department, in reckoning the number of scholars who give "satisfactory evidence," count the passes in the separate subjects?—I am, sir, your obedient servant, THOMAS E. HELLER, Secretary.

Science and Art Department, London, S. W., 30th day of June, 1877. Sir, I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 26th June, and to state, in reply, that the sum of one shilling only is paid for a child who merely gives satisfactory evidence of having been taught drawing in the school during the previous year; and a double payment of is. on account of any one such child is not allowed.

If a child works two exercises, for one of which a payment of is. 6d. or 2s. 6d. is allowed, and the other of which only gives satisfactory evidence that the child had been taught drawing, no payment will be allowed on account of the second exercise, but in such cases the lower payment (per child) merges into the higher one which is per exercise.

As regards the observation "that in some cases the number who had given 'satisfactory evidence of having been taught drawing,' added to the 'passes,' was in excess of the number of candidates," it will be understood, from the foregoing explanation of the rules, that the number of candidates may exceed the number of payments without any payment, under paragraph 5a of Form 530, being made in excess of is. per child, added to the higher payments for exercise. If, for example, of twenty candidates examined fifteen earn the payment of is. each, and the remaining five earn payments in two subjects each, the whole number of the payments will obviously exceed that of the candidates.-I am, sir, your obedient servant, NORMAN MACLEOD.

T. E. Heller, Esq.,

National Union of Elementary Teachers, 7, Adam Street, Adelphi, W.C. The following motion, of which notice had been given by Mr. Phillips, was, in his absence, allowed to drop: "That this Executive, being on the whole well satisfied with the action of the Education Department in granting pensions to aged and incapacitated teachers, is of opinion that any general movement for the purpose of agitating an alteration of the Pension Minute in the present Code is premature.'

"

Mr. Graves, who had given private notice of his resolution, was allowed, as a matter of emergency, to move, "That attention be drawn to the action of school attendances committees in the country requiring returns from teachers, and that the deputation be required to bring the subject before the Committee of Council." He had found that some unions, having appointed their school attendance committee, appointed local committees to carry out the Act. It appeared to him that the work of making out the returns must eventually fall upon the teacher. He mentioned an instance in which the attendance committee had not only asked the local committees to do what the circular from the Education Department requires-that is, to make returns to the local authorities once a year, but they had asked for monthly returns. This was what he complained of, together with the fact that no payment was offered for this additional labour. The motion was seconded by Mr. Moore, and carried.

A vote of thanks was given to the president for his conduct in the chair, and to Mr. Sneath for the use of the room.

The ordinary weekly meeting of the Executive was held at 7, Adam Street, Adelphi, W.C., on Friday, July 13th, at seven p.m.

The president (Mr. W. Gardner) occupied the chair, and the following members were present: Messrs. Day (vice-president), Grove (treasurer), Faulkner, Greenwood, Griffith, Hamilton, Langler, Morgan, Phillips, T. H. Smith, Sneath, Wild, and Heller (secretary). The Secretary having read the minutes of the meeting of July 7th,

Mr. Phillips asked why his notice on the subject of pension was last week allowed to drop. The Secretary said it had been dropped in the usual manner, in consequence of the absence of the mover. Mr. Heller said that he hoped Mr. Phillips would be allowed to bring on his motion, as at the time he had forgotten that Mr. Phillips had asked for postponement, if necessary. It was then agreed that the motion should come on in due course. Mr. Day stated that a deputation, consisting of Messrs. W. Gardner (president), T. N. Day (vice-president), J. W. Grove (treasurer), Graves and Moore (ex-presidents). Webb (vice-president of the Plymouth Association), and Heller (secretary), had waited on Sir F. R. Sandford, to place before him the views of the Executive on the Recent Regulations." Mr. Day gave a full and interesting account of the deputation, which had been very courteously received. He said that their views were stated at length, and he hoped for good results from the interview. The dislike and dissatisfaction with which Regulation 25 is regarded by teachers were fully expressed, and the inconsistency of the Government in their dealings with teachers was clearly pointed out. The deputation was introduced by Mr. Heller, and the president first spoke. Mr. Heller had taken advantage of the interview to put a question respecting the marking of registers by pupil-teachers, and was promised a definite reply.

The Secretary reported that the question of Pensions had been brought forward in the House of Commons on the previous Tuesday, but unsuccessfully. It appeared that a great deal of time was wasted in the House on that day in considering whether Lord Sandon should make his statement in or out of committee. The Secretary had received a letter from Lord Francis Hervey, in which he said that Lord Sandon did not hold out any hope of further concession, but he could not see that any difficulty would arise if the Education Department would take power to themselves to consider favourably special cases dehors the general rule laid down. Such cases could be decided on their merits. He also said that as a division had been taken his motion could not be put; if it had been otherwise the result might have been different.

Mr. Faulkner expressed his regret that they were so powerless in this matter, and that, notwithstanding the time spent on this pension business, they could not get their view on the subject plainly stated. Mr. Day thought it was most unfortunate that the impression left on the public mind was that there were only nine cases rejected. Mr. Phillips said Lord Sandon had distinctly stated that in only nine cases which fulfilled the primary conditions pensions had not been granted. The Secretary said that it was the primary conditions that were complained of. Mr. Langler regretted that part of the 6,500 granted by Parliament should be held back for more needy cases, as he felt that if these cases were continued to be passed over there would soon be none at all, and the sum which had thus been set aside could not be applied to that purpose. It was agreed, on the suggestion of the secretary, that as the question of pensions would be raised by Mrs. Phillips's motion, it would be well to defer the discussion on the subject till then. The minutes of the last meeting were then signed.

Mr. Sneath said at the next meeting he should like to ask a question as to the final appropriation of the Stanbridge Fund, when Mr. Heller stated that the trustees would bring up a report at the next meeting.

Mr. Phillips gave notice of a motion respecting the attendance of members of the Executive, after which he moved the resolution standing in his name at the previous meeting: "That this Executive, being on the whole well satisfied with the action of the Education Department in granting pensions to aged and incapacitated teachers, is o opinion that any general movement for the purpose of agitating an alteration of the Pension Minute in the present Code is premature." He said his chief object in bringing this

so that they might see exactly on what grounds they stood deal of misapprenhension on this subject, as he knew that whom he had conversed believe they had a legal right to to ascertain how many pensions had been granted, and information, but believed it to be about 180 out of 270. duced was very short, and he thought the remaining ninety been said that the National Union in bringing forward this that the highest number that would be immediately requ brought this forward, he said, to show that they did not kn There were facts which made the Government hesitate as an instance the case of a young man, twenty one years in 1846. He would now be fifty-two, but could not clair years of age. In eight years time he would be able to m there were a great many teachers now working in schools eligible for pensions, and he thought the Government sho doubt there would be cases of hardship, as there always are. be referred to the Parliamentary Committee.

The motion was received with surprise and regret, and, ground.

The Secretary read a special report on the accounts of co 1876; soirée, 1876; and dinner, 1877. It appears that on e was shown, and that considerable sums had been advance expenses. As the deficits amounted in all to nearly £100 considered the subject, and had sent up a joint recommend contributions should be asked for by members of the E committees. This recommendation was agreed to after expenses, 1874, from the list as being of a purely local chara of those who enjoyed the South Kensington conversazione and assist in clearing off the balance now owing to the secretary.

The Secretary presented the following correspondence shire Scholastic)-Stating that the meeting of the 7th July requesting the attendance of the secretary on September Somerset) Enclosing resolution respecting recent regulations -Forwarding resolutions respecting the returns required by (Northwich)-Forwarding 1. 1s. for Orphanage scheme, an 5. J. Hobby (Stourbridge)-Asking for the affiliation of th Elementary Teachers' Association. 6. R. Lakin (Manches Education Department respecting Mr. Selden, and asking prayer. 7. W. Tidmarsh (Sherborne and Yeovil)-Notifyin to the Home Secretary. 8. J. Taylor (Bolton)-In reference Steere, M.P.-In reply to Pension Circular. With respect to the secretary should attend the meeting of the Leicestersh September 8th. Nos. 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9 were simply reporte on the motion of Messrs. Day and Langler, the affiliation Elementary Teachers' Association was agreed to. Mr. Grov referred to the Parliamentary Committee. An amendment, to should write on behalf of the Executive supporting the prayer Association, was lost, after a long discussion, and Mr. Grove counection with No. 9 it was unanimously resolved, on the mo the best thanks of the Executive be given to Lord Francis H the subjeet of pensions in the House of Commons."

Mr. Morgan brought up the report of the Finance and Ge The report recommended an addition of £10 per annum to the sideration of the extra duties put upon him in connection with r the Executive. The committee also recommended that one allowed in the year, to be distributed at the discretion of the s cussion, in which Mr. Grove drew attention to the large amou Schoolmaster by the recent reports of the Executive meetings, b adopted.

The next business on the paper was the remainder of the n the Executive by Conference, but, owing to the late hour, it was Messrs. Hamilton and Phillips, to adjourn the discussion un Greenwood thought that, as no other meeting of the Executi September 1st, something should be done at once in the matte thought some reply should be made to the statement of Lord Commons, and that an attempt should be made to place the sub the country. He would write to the papers on the subject. Ar secretary to write on behalf of the Executive, was proposed unanimously adopted. A vote of thanks was given to the chairm

The National Schoolmaster.

SUMMARY.

HE Norwich School Board has come to an open rupture with the Education Department on the question of school fees. Our readers will see the details of the dispute in the article on "School Boards." It only remains for us now to give the reply of the Department to the request of the board that a deputation should waït upon it to give the reasons for their proposal. Their lordships refuse to receive the deputation, and add that their reply must be taken as final:

Education Department, Whitehall, August 10th, 1877. Sir,-Referring to your letter, dated 2nd August, I am to state that as there appears to be no reason to suppose that there is anything in this case which cannot be well explained in writing; and as the circumstances of the case have been most carefully considered by this department, my lords will be unable to receive the proposed deputation. I am to add that this reply must be taken as final.—I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant, P. CUMIN.

The majority of the board, however, do not seem inclined to give way. One of their number gave notice of his intention to move, "That the clerk be instructed to advise this board upon their legal position and duty in relation to the opening of Philadelphia School, and for that purpose take counsel's opinion, under the direction of the General Purposes Committee." The clerk, however, admitted there was no doubt as to their legal position, and that, under the circumstances, they would not be justified in charging the ratepayers for the counsel's opinion. It was hinted that in the case of further opposition the Department might declare the board a school board in default. It appears there are 42 schools under the London board where a penny fee is paid, but the inspector has reported to the Department that there are no special circumstances in the district of the Philadelphia School which call for the fixing of so low a fee.

The report of the Select Committee appointed to inquire into the circumstances attending the suicide of the boy Gibbs has been issued. No. 82.-September, 1877.